The theater-goer in conventional dramatic theater says: Yes, I've felt that way, too. That's the way I am. That's life. That's the way it will always be. The suffering of this or that person grips me because there is no escape for him. That's great art — Everything is self-evident. I am made to cry with those who cry, and laugh with those who laugh. But the theater-goer in the epic theater says: I would never have thought that. You can't do that. That's very strange, practically unbelievable. That has to stop. The suffering of this or that person grips me because there is an escape for him. That's great art — nothing is self-evident. I am made to laugh about those who cry, and cry about those who laugh.

Of all the works of man I like bestThose which have been used.The copper pots with their dents and flattened edgesThe knives and forks whose wooden handlesHave been worn away by many hands: such formsSeemed to me the noblest.

And I always thought: the very simplest wordsMust be enough. When I say what things are likeEveryone's heart must be torn to shreds.That you'll go down if you don't stand up for yourselfSurely you see that.